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First post of 2012 so Happy New Year to all forum users.

It occurred to me and some other members I have played with that there may be some benefits in switching the order that the two nines are played (i.e. start on the current tenth hole and finish on the current ninth hole). I thought the forum might be a good way to get some feedback from members and others on this.

It seems to me that the benefits could be :

1. The currrent first hole is the hardest on the course (any analysis of the competition rounds shows this) and it would be better to meet this challenge later in the round rather than straight after getting out of the car.

2. The current ninth hole would make a great finishing hole (particularly in match play) with its clear risk and reward elements.

3. On completing the round (after the new finishing hole) one would walk back past the pro shop (good for business), past the shoe/trolley cleaning facility (which would then be ideally placed), and past the clubhouse (good for business) before getting back to the car. With the current setup some members come straight off the course and straight into their car without using any of the clubs facilities.

On the negative side I have:

1. Starting with a par three hole (current tenth). I know some people don't like starting with a par three but I think it gives good spacing between groups at the start of a round and our tenth hole doesn't usually give rise to people hunting for balls.

2. There will be a cost. Scorecards would need to be reprinted and tee identifiers changed. There are some 'next tee' direction boards that would need to be changed as well. Clearly, it would be possible to trial the new order of play without making any of these investments.

If anyone can add to these pros and cons or has any other comment I would be interested to hear.

Chris

I just thought of another pro/con:

pro: The walk from the new ninth (old eighteenth) to the new tenth (old first) takes you past the pro shop again. You could take the opportunity to top up with balls/tees etc after that unexpectedly bad front nine performance. Also we could use the decking outside the pro shop as a 'half way house', put a small table and four chairs out there and avail ourselves of cold drinks or maybe have a self serve hot drink machine in the shop.

con: Its a longer walk from the new ninth to the new tenth which would make the round five minutes longer.

Chris

Great Post Chris

I hope this gets some good feed back as I will look at it with interest.

James Andrews